Tuesday, August 4, 2015

New resource on Hepatitis C for Journalists worldwide

The World
Federation of Science Journalists (WFSJ) on Tuesday launched a new initiative
to help journalists report on the staggering toll of Hepatitis C (HCV) as well
as the scientific and political barriers to treating the disease.

Launched on
World Hepatitis Day (July 28, 2015), the new website www.wfsj.org/hepatitis/presents
resources written by journalists for journalists to expose the complex issues
preventing effective prevention and treatment of the disease as well as a
database of HCV experts from around the world who can be interviewed on a range
of issues– from physician/scientists and patient groups, to public policy
experts.

According to the World Federation of
Science Journalists, the global disease burden of viral hepatitis is
staggering.

The World Health Organization (WHO)
estimates that 130-150 million people have chronic HCV worldwide, and most of
them are not even aware they are infected.

People with chronic HCV have a high risk of
developing serious life threatening liver diseases.

Despite the risk, there is relatively
little media coverage of the HCV pandemic and the public remains largely
uninformed about the transmission, detection, health risks, treatment
prospects, and state of government health policy for HCV.

WFSJ Global Media Education Initiative www.wfsj.org/hepatitis/ now provides journalists
around the world with the tools, data, and contacts to accurately explore the
latest developments about the HCV crisis - from the latest research to the
reasons why new treatments are not accessible to the majority of people
suffering from the disease.

The resources are organized by theme and
are specifically designed to help journalists provide strong and accurate
coverage of HCV.

According the new website www.wfsj.org/hepatitis, the World
Federation of Science Journalists is also launching a new database of viral
Hepatitis experts from around the world who speak different languages.

This database will be regularly updated and
expanded. These expert sources vetted by the WFSJ are appointed to serve on the
database for a period of one year at a time, and have expressed a willingness
to share their expertise and insights into viral hepatitis with the media.

Damien Chalaud, Executive Director of the
World Federation of Science Journalists says — “This initiative marks a unique
opportunity for journalists to not only learn about HCV, but to produce stories
that will make an impact. The content and resources are specifically designed
to help journalists produce accurate yet compelling reports about this complex
human story, with its public health policy and socio-economic perspectives. We
believe it will enable journalists to look deeper into the topic and change the
way they approach the HCV narrative”.